By admin 
Federal prosecutors Wednesday alleged former Sacramento City Council member Shahriar “Sean” Loloee, at the time he was committing financial crimes, was engaged in a romantic relationship with his employee who lived at his house.
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Loloee, who resigned from the City Council in January 2024, pleaded guilty in April to underreporting taxes and fraudulently obtaining over $1.2 million in federal COVID grant money for his Viva Supermarket stores. His sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 19.
While Loloee and two other defendants await their Nov. 19 sentencings following their guilty pleas, Karla Montoya, the fourth and final defendant, has decided not to plead guilty and, instead, take her case to trial.
During the trial, prosecutors plan to call witnesses with “first hand” evidence that the two were having a romantic relationship, showing they were more likely to be co-conspirators, Assistant U.S. Attorney Audrey Hemesath said during Wednesday’s hearing in Sacramento’s federal court.
Montoya’s attorney Jai Gohel denied the allegation as “workplace gossip.” He asked U.S. Judge Troy L. Nunley to bar prosecutors from including it in the trial, making the case that Montoya was married, and that it could cause jurors could think negatively of her character.
Hameseth said the prosecutors did not plan to bring up the fact it was an affair, and Nunley allowed it to be part of the trial. Jury selection then began.
Where Montoya lived
Montoya faces charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States, possession of false immigration documents, use of false immigration documents and obstruction of agency proceedings.
Montoya, while working as a Viva Supermarkets manager, was living in a house Loloee owns in North Sacramento’s Hagginwood neighborhood, The Sacramento Bee reported in June 2022. When he ran for City Council, Loloee submitted documents to the city saying he lived in that house, but he was actually living in a $2.4 million Granite Bay house with his wife and children, The Bee reported, which was later verified by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Prosecutors Wednesday alleged Montoya was living in Loloee’s house free of charge, making it more likely they were co-conspirators.
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Montoya’s attorney said she did live in the house, but it was with her husband and two children, not as part of a romantic relationship with Loloee.
November sentencing for others
The criminal indictment, filed in 2023, also contained allegations that Loloee and the other defendants engaged in a longtime scheme to hire undocumented immigrants, underpay them and threaten to deport them — charges to which Loloee did not plead guilty but seem likely to come up in the trial.
Former workers in 2024 told The Bee they experienced intimidation and discrimination. The stores, in Del Paso Heights, North Sacramento and Rancho Cordova, primarily serve Latino neighborhoods.
Montoya’s attorney Wednesday asked if her current immigration status can be excluded from the trial, which Nunley approved. Her immigration status at the time of the alleged crimes however will be included, as Hemesath said it was relevant.
Mirwais and Ahmad Shams, who are brothers and still work at Viva, each pleaded guilty in August to filing false tax returns. Both are set to be sentenced on Nov. 19 along with Loloee. The Shams brothers do not face prison time; Loloee does.
Nunley also ordered Loloee to pay nearly $2.4 million in restitution, including $240,000 to the IRS.
Loloee, who still owns the Viva chain, is not included in the government’s list of witnesses.
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